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Yoshi did not appear until Super Mario World, which was released in 1990. However, Shigeru Miyamoto has stated in interviews that he wanted Mario to ride an animal companion after the completion of Super Mario Bros. Apparently, technical restrictions on the NES kept Mario from being able to ride an animal, but with the development of the Super Famicom in 1990, Yoshi could be created. The character of Yoshi was specifically created by Shigefumi Hino, a graphics designer.
Yoshi likely originated from another Nintendo character, Tamagon. Tamagon was the star of the game Devil World, a game released in Japan for the Famicom in 1984 and later in Europe for the NES. Like Yoshi, Tamagon was a green lizard that hatched from an egg and could eat enemies with his large mouth. Tamagon makes exactly the same noise when he hatches as Yoshi does in Super Mario World. Additionally, in the Super Mario World article in the History of Mario booklet from the Super Mario All-Stars Limited Edition game for Wii, game designer Takashi Tezuka said that Yoshi was originally going to be a type of Koopa, and the saddle on his back was supposed to be his shell.

Yoshi's appearance has changed dramatically throughout his video game history. In Super Mario World, Yoshi's first appearance, the green dinosaur was very much created in the image of an actual dinosaur. Yoshi had a long neck, small arms that appeared orange on his sprite (but not in the game's art), and a long back. A second design change was used in Yoshi's Cookie, Super Mario All-Stars, and in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. In those games, Yoshi was made shorter and stouter. Additionally, much longer human-like arms, complete with large hands to manipulate objects, replaced his short, tyrannosaurus-like arms. This design change was developed even more in Yoshi's Story. Instead of being hunched over, Yoshi stood up straight and swung his arms as he walked, much like a human. This design also gave him apparent fingers instead of paw-like hands. This design has stuck ever since.